Praying mantises are carnivorous predators that eat a wide variety of prey, primarily other animals. Their diet mainly consists of insects and arthropods, but they can also consume larger prey depending on their size and habitat.

What Praying Mantises Eat

• Insects and Arthropods: This is the bulk of their diet, including crickets, grasshoppers, butterflies, moths, flies, mosquitoes, aphids, leafhoppers, caterpillars, beetles, spiders, worms, and larvae

• Small Vertebrates: Larger mantis species can prey on small mammals, birds (including small birds like ruby-throated hummingbirds), reptiles (such as lizards and snakes), amphibians (like frogs), and even small fish

• Other Mantises: They sometimes exhibit cannibalism, especially after mating or when food is scarce

• Pollen: Although primarily carnivorous, praying mantis nymphs may consume pollen occasionally, especially when insect prey is scarce, which can provide nutritional benefits

Feeding Behavior

Praying mantises are ambush predators; they lie in wait and use their quick reflexes and spiny forelegs to capture prey, usually eating it head first

. They are opportunistic and generalist hunters, eating whatever prey they can catch in their environment

Summary Table of Common Prey

Food Type| Examples
---|---
Insects| Crickets, grasshoppers, flies, moths, aphids, caterpillars, beetles, mosquitoes, spiders
Small mammals| Mice
Birds| Small birds, including hummingbirds
Reptiles| Lizards, snakes
Amphibians| Frogs
Fish| Small fish
Others| Worms, larvae, other mantises (cannibalism)

In captivity, praying mantises are typically fed live insects such as crickets and grasshoppers, with smaller prey like fruit flies or aphids for young mantises

. In summary, praying mantises are versatile carnivores that eat a broad spectrum of prey from small insects to small vertebrates, adapting their diet to what is available in their environment